Environment and natural resources

Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities announced they have allowed 750 ethnic Vietnamese families living on the Tonle Sap river to stay until July, after more than 3,000 other Vietnamese families voluntarily relocated to designated areas on higher ground. Provincial governor Chhour Chandoeun said authorities made the decision ...

The ministry said it had introduced a number of environmental procedures, rules and guidelines to protect, promote and manage environmental issues, and cited major laws such as the 1996 Law on Environmental and Natural Resource Management and the 2008 Law on Natural Protected Areas. The ministry ...

The driver of a van loaded with luxury timber fled the scene after crashing into traffic signs at Phnom Penh Autonomous Port on Tuesday. ...

Nests of five critically endangered bird species were found in the Siem Pang and Siem Pang Kang Lech wildlife sanctuaries last year, according to an annual report issued yesterday by Birdlife International Cambodia. ...

Forest activists in Battambang province’s Samlot district said on Thursday that a company that has received an economic land concession (ELC) in the area is trading timber from outside its ELC boundary. ...

Environmental rangers in Preah Vihear’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary are preparing to file a complaint against 15 people for inciting an armed mob of villagers on Saturday to “liberate” three rice tractors impounded at an environmental office. ...

At least 73 people were detained this year and handed over to the environment authority by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) for clearing forest in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, a huge nature reserve in northern Cambodia spanning four provinces.​ ...

Battambang’s Environment Department stated that the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary,  on Tonle Sap Lake, has seen a 30 per cent increase in bird population this year. ...

Siem Reap’s Banteay Srei and Bakong forestry administrations on Tuesday released more than 100 turtles and water monitor lizards back into their natural habitats after authorities seized them from illegal wildlife traders. ...

Forest rangers and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) said on Tuesday that forest in the Phnom Tnort-Phnom Pok and Prey Lang wildlife sanctuaries in Preah Vihear province are being cleared by groups of perpetrators from Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Battambang provinces. ...

A senior rights group official and eight ethnic community members were questioned by a Ratanakkiri provincial court prosecutor on Tuesday over alleged incitement to forestry crimes. ...

Cambodian and Vietnamese police officials met on Sunday to discuss forestry crime prevention along the border between both countries in Mondulkiri province. ...

In response to the latest riverbank collapse in Kandal province’s Mok Kampoul district on December 13, the most recent of a spate across the Kingdom, authorities have moved to prevent more from occurring. ...

Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Yun Min has ordered a local company to cease all development in the Prek Koh Khyong area within the Ream National Park, which the firm plans to turn into a tourist attraction. ...

Environmental rangers on Monday seized a pile of timber hidden in the forest behind a house in Pou Chrei commune’s Me Pai village in Mondulkiri province’s Pech Chreada district following reports from villagers. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday lauded the Chinese developer behind Koh Kong province’s $3.8 billion tourism project, despite it causing a decade-long dispute with the villagers there. “The Union Development Group [UDG] transformed the quiet area in Koh Kong province into an attractive tourist ...

Preah Vihear provincial court is taking action against three suspects for illegal forest clearing in Prey Lang and Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuaries and death threats following a complaint from a team of park rangers and the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) on Tuesday, according to ...

The training will be conducted through a cooperation between the Ministry of Environment’s General Department of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection and the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Office of Anti-Crime Programmes (INL/C), and US Forest Service. ...

Kratie provincial court granted Military Police permission to bring two suspects involved with operating an illegal charcoal kiln back to a provincial military police base on Sunday for further questioning. ...

Rangers and officials from the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) detained 12 loggers and confiscated seven chainsaws and three cubic meters of timber in Kampong Thom province’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. ...

The Office of the Council of Ministers (OCM) has approved plans to improve and add capacity to water treatment facilities in coastal and construction areas, sewage systems and mud drying facilities in Sihanoukville after they were inspected and assessed by government institutions. ...

The Ministry of Tourism last month recognised the Tmat Boey Thoeun Krasang community forest in Choam Ksan district’s Pring Thom commune, in Preah Vihear province, as a “Model Tourism Community” for its management’s efforts to conserve the rare white-shouldered ibis. ...

More than 100 families, including Bunong ethnic community members who have been impacted by the Lower Sesan II dam in Stung Treng province, complained on Monday about the shortage of clean water. The villagers, who have rejected compensation for relocation and currently live on higher ...

Military Police in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Sruoch district on Saturday seized nearly 90kg of wild meat during a raid led by a provincial court prosecutor and Forestry Administration officials in Ou commune’s Cheak village.​ ...